Since Brett Favre's signing in Minnesota, there has been some rumblings that Tavaris Jackson would find himself as the odd man out in Minnesota. Jaguar fans have since mentioned his name as a possible candidate to sign for the shaky back up quarterback spot. However, I think that would be a foolish move, whether by trade or claiming Jackson off the waiver wire.
Jackson has unimpressive career numbers. He has a completion percentage below 60%(58.4) and has thrown almost as many interceptions (18) as touchdowns (20.) Not to mention he was in a quarterback "competition" with another career mediocre QB, Sage Rosenfels.
Why does anyone think this would be anymore than Cleo Lemon 2.0? The guy has amazing athletic ability, but has never shown that can translate into being an NFL quarterback. Paul Smith has shown an amazing amount of progress this offseason that can't be understated. Why should the team stunt his growth now?
However, perhaps the most damning thing against Jackson is that maybe he just isn't cut out to be a NFL QB. Check out what our comrades over at the Daily Norsemen have to say about him?
His stat line was impressive: 12/15, 202 yards, two touchdowns. People are understandably pleased with how Tarvaris Jackson performed against the Chiefs. After a tough-to-watch preseason debut in Indianapolis, the rebound he pulled off on Friday night was surprising. Or was it?
Let's take a look at the difference between this week's game and last week's game. Last week, T-Jack was in the middle of a quarterback competition. This week, the quarterback competition had been thrown out the window. Last week, the pressure was on him to excel, especially after Sage Rosenfels opened the game with two stellar drives. This week, that pressure was gone -- there was no quarterback he needed to keep pace with.
In other words, Friday's game reinforced something we already knew about T-Jack: He has difficulty handling the pressure associated with being a starter. But when that pressure's off, he's an undeniably solid quarterback.
Do we really need to sign another mediocre but highly athletic and expensive back up QB? I thought the days of Shack Harris were over.
-Jonathan Loesche